Organisation & Work Programme

Organisation

The Steering Committee (CD-P-TS)

Its primary responsibilities, according to the terms of reference, are to:

examine questions related to human blood transfusion, with regards to quality and safety standards and their implementation, including collection, preparation, storage, distribution and appropriate use;

assist members states in improving, and if needed, in restructuring their blood transfusion services by promoting principles of voluntary non-remunerated donations;

define and promote the implementation of quality and safety standards in blood and blood components collection, storage, distribution and usage;

taking into account ethical aspects propose safety and quality standards on professional practices and on product specifications;

ensure the transfer of knowledge and expertise through training and networking;

monitor practices in Europe and assess epidemiological risks, in particular of the emergence of new transmissible diseases;

ensure the availability of rare blood products by means of the European Database and Bank of Frozen Blood of Rare Groups.

Members

The CD-P-TS is composed of 46 experts from 39 Council of Europe member states and 12 observers including the EU Commission and WHO, meets at least once a year to discuss its work programme during the plenary session. The Committee is chaired by Dr Sheila MacLennan.

Work Programme

The CD-P-TS has given priority to the following projects:

Periodic revision of the Guide to the Preparation, Use and Quality Assurance of Blood Components by a dedicated working group including experts from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.

Operating an IT database to facilitate bilateral exchanges of frozen rare blood group units for patients in need

Publishing annual reports on data on “the collection, testing and use of blood and blood components in Europe”.